Feeder



Feb. 9 1926. 1,572,206

W. HILDITCH FEEDER Filed Dec 2s, 1922 ATTURNEY Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES 4PA'rENr OFFICE.

`WILLIAM HILDITCH, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, AssIeNoR, EY DIRECT AND MEsNE As- V sIGNMEN'rs, To EULLEETLEHIGLII COMPANY, or EULLERTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANA.

EEEDEE.v y

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HILDITOII, a citizen of the United States, and a resi dent of Cleveland, 'county of Cuyahoga, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to feeding devices for pulverized material and more particularly to devices for feeding pulverized coal to furnaces.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a comparatively simple feeder, for the purposespecified, which may be V manufactured at a low cost and which will be more efficient in operation than existing feeders.

A further obJect of the Invention 1s to provide a feeder that will give a practical.

ly uniform flow of the material at a rate which may be regulated at the will of the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power Operated feeder in which the parts are so arranged that there is no tendency to compact the material into lumps, and which has the further advantage of tending to break up any lumps which reach the feeder.

Other objects and the features of novelty will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a composite view of 'a feeder embodying my invention, one portion of the view being a side elevation and the other portion being a central vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away and shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottom'of` the hopper in which the fuel is received;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the part shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the valve;

Fig. G is an edge view of the same;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the hopper by itself;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the agitators;

Fig. 9 is a view `taken at right angles to Fig. 8 with parts shown in section;

'Fig'. 10 is an elevation ofone of the details of the apparatus with part thereof brOlIenaway and shown iny sectiongland y Fig. 11 is'an end elevation of the same. Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a hopper to the upper side of which is secured a ypipe or chute '11 through which the pulverized coal is received. The hopper l() and the chute 1l are provided with the cooperating flanges 12 which are secured together by the bolts 13. A discharge pipe V14, having a flange 15, is secured to the bottom fl. nge 1 6 of the hopper 10 by bolts 17. A

plate V18 is arranged between the flanges 15 and 16 and serves as the bottom wall of the hopper 10. This plate khas a central opening 19, preferably square, although it may be differently shaped, and on the under side of the plate 18 the ways 2() are arranged.

A valve 21, in the form of a plate having a V-shaped notch 22 in its outer end, slides on the ways 20, the notch 22 cooperating with the opening 19 to provide a square Outlet that is variable in size from zero to the full opening 19.

A. shaft 23, arranged at right angles to the ways 20, is supported in the bearings 24 and 25 in the hopper 10 and carries, at its outer end, a sprocket wheel or other device 26 by which the shaft may be rotated from any suitable source of power. The middle portion of the shaft 23 is preferably made square, as indicated at 27 and has secured thereon the agitating wheels 28 and 29, the wheels being preferably different in size, as shown, in order to procure the best and most uniform feeding results. The wheels 28 and 29 are preferably of the toothed variety, as shown more clearly in Figs. 8 and 9, and are arranged directly over the opening 19 in the bottom plate 18. This arrangement of the agitator wheels with reference to the opening 19 insures that, when the wheels are not rotating, they, in effect, so cover the opening as to prevent the natural flow of the material therethrough. The wheels 28 and 29 may be secured to the shaft 23 in any preferred manner, or by set screws.

The valve or slide 21 has a rod 3l secured thereto by bolts or rivets 32 andthe outer end of this rod is threaded, as indi` cated at 33, to receive the actuating nut 34 which is carried and held against axial movement bythe bracket 35 which has a bearing 36 to receive the nut 34. A hand Wheel 37 is keyed to the nut 34, the key- Way being shown at 38 in Figs', 10 and 11, and is held thereon by the collar 39.

The discharge pipe 14 may have its 'up'` per end tapered, as shown in the drawings, and its lower end provided with screw threads 4() whereby a pipe for conducting the fuel to the furnace may be attached; The pipe 14n may also be provided With a side outlet 41 which is ynormally closed by the hinged'cover 42.

In the operation of the feeder it ina he assumed that the pulverized fuel prctically fills the hopper 10 and extends upwardly in the chute 11 to some distance.l The shaft 23 being rotated, ythe fuel tvill be uniformly delivered 'tothe opening 19 by the teeth` ofthe Wheels 28 and 29 and these teeth will also serve to `I'nevent a rush of the material through the opening. YVhen the shaft 23 is idle the material Will cover the Wheels .28 and 29 and the latter Will prevent the natural flow yof the material through the opening 19a` Thevalve or slide `insure `that thehopening `is always square 'irrespeetivef :itsysizevnd on *Account of the vSlide 21 moving--substetially in the ,plane of the Wheels 28 and 29 the relation of'fthe wheels to the opening, 19 is not materially affected by varying the size of the outlet.

HavingI thus described my invention, what I claim "is:v` l n g In a device fof the class described, lthe combination 'of a hopper, a ybottom therefor rhaving a discharge opening therein, a shaft -arriu'iged in said hopper above said opening,V and aplurality of toothed wheels of different diameters-arranged direotlyover said opening and adapted, When not rotating, toprevent the natural flowof material through said opening.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM HLDITGH. 

